MIAA to consider rule changes

Tom Fargo tfargo@wickedlocal.com

Tuesday

Aug 14, 2018 at 3:26 PM

The MIAA has released the list of rules change proposals for the 2019-21 period and one should ring familiar.

Westwood High boys varsity basketball coach Steve St. Martin has renewed his quest to loosen the ban on out-of-season contact with players by coaches. It is not the first such proposal that St. Martin has submitted over the years – this one has some adjusted language – but he is optimistic that the various bodies needed for approval will come around this time.

“We lose so many kids to private schools that have different rules than we do, and at the same time Massachusetts is by far the most restrictive state not only throughout the school year but also in the summer,” said St, Martin. “I’ve gotten a lot of feedback, talked to a lot of different coaches in a lot of different sports, and they are all pretty excited about it. Hopefully, this time around we make some headway and it passes.”

While there are addendums with limited exceptions, the most basic version of the current rule states: “Between seasons a coach may conduct a meeting(s) with team candidates only to elect captains, collect equipment, issue equipment, to provide for physical examinations, to conduct legitimate fund-raising events, or to offer wellness workshops or activities”.

St. Martin’s proposal would permit coaches a maximum of three hours per week of contact with players to teach sport-specific skills during both the school year and the summer. The sessions would be voluntary, and free, and subject to the approval of the athletic director.

The restriction on coaching student-athletes in leagues and tournaments during the summer would also be lifted.

In researching standards around the country for prior proposals, St. Martin found that Massachusetts is in the vast minority when it comes to limiting out-of-season coaching, and more states are adopting new policies each year.

“A lot of states have changed because of what they are seeing with AAU and the lack of influence that high school coaches have on their own players,” said St. Martin. “Here we are CORI-ed, hired by the district, fingerprinted and we don’t have the trust to have some interaction with players. It’s pretty frustrating, I wish they would take a look at the way other states approach it. I know they are trying to protect the kids but I actually think they are being a detriment.”

St. Martin believes that it is important for multi-sport athletes to be able to focus on the season at hand during the school year, but that providing an outlet for those who wish to specialize and are looking for ways to improve could be highly beneficial.

“When players are in season they should concentrate on that particular sport 100 percent, but for the players that aren’t it would be really good for them to get quality instruction, in my mind, to better prepare them if they want to play at the next level,” said St. Martin.

And when it comes to playing at the next level, the restrictions could put Massachusetts athletes at a disadvantage against those from other states when it comes to recruiting. Avoiding the pitfalls of some AAU or club programs more interested in generating revenue than developing players, and leveling the playing field against those are already violating the current rules, are additional reasons for a change, according to St. Martin.

“Basically, it’s to have high school coaches entrusted by the district to have more say and be able to help in what (athletes) are doing in the offseason,” said St. Martin. “Giving them a sound adult that is trusted by the district would make sense to me.”

Player safety

St. Martin’s proposal is just one of many interesting ones up for consideration this year. Former Westwood High football coach Ed Mantie, now at Framingham, submitted multiple proposals dealing with player safety and the targeting rule.

Mantie would like to see the rule that disqualifies a player for the following game if ejected for a targeting/initiating contact with the crown of the helmet, or defenseless-player penalty, amended to the current NCAA guideline of the rest of the half, plus one additional half.

The reasoning is that the severity of a one-game suspension makes referees hesitant to call the infraction – only seven such disqualifications have been issued in the last two years. Under the new rule, referees would be more likely to make the call, eventually reducing such incidents and making the game safer.

Mantie also proposes that football coaches be required to spend a minimum of 10 minutes per practice teaching techniques to avoid targeting and hits on defenseless players to help eradicate illegal hits.

There are a few rules that have two different proposals for changes. The two regarding a new starting date of fall sports are similar in nature, with both calling for the first practice to be moved forward from the second Thursday before Labor Day to the second Monday before Labor Day.

According to the proposals, the earlier date would lessen the need for double sessions and decrease injuries as a result, help alleviate scheduling crunches, and eliminate perceived bias toward football, which is now allowed to start six days prior to other fall sports.

Soccer

Two different adjustments to the soccer rule which denies teams tournament eligibility after more than four red cards or 13 yellows cards are accumulated have been submitted. One seeks to specify that only cards given for fighting or unsportsmanslike count toward the total, thereby encouraging referees to issue more cards for violent tackles or dangerous plays. The other would change the threshold to four reds or 15 total cards.

Also, there are two proposed alterations to the rule which bumps co-op teams up one division higher when determining tournament alignments in an effort to not penalize program that have difficulty fielding teams. One would use the enrollment of the largest of the programs, while the other would keep the co-op team in a lower division if they two combined enrollments would not otherwise have moved it up.

Proposals must be voted on by the MIAA Sports Committees, MIAA Administrative Committees, Massachusetts Secondary School Athletic Directors Association and MIAA District Athletic Committees, then acted on by the MIAA Board of Directors before a final ruling by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Committee prior to June 1.

Among the other proposals are:

Suspending coaches until the completion of the required Fundamentals of Coaching Course.Allowing for booster clubs to fund out-of-season activities.Making it easier for students enrolled in alternate schools to play for their hometown district without a waiver if the sport is not offered at their school.Having both schools responsible for an athletic trainer, physician or EMT to work each sideline during football games.Reassessing divisional alignments every two years instead of four, and using enrollment data for grades 9-11 instead of 9-12.Eliminating any schedule changes after the first game of the season has been played.Establishing billiards as an MIAA sport.